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Windows 10 vs Windows Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
3.6
Windows 10 offers stability, compatibility, and security, achieving break-even in 18 months, with mixed views on financial impact.
Sentiment score
1.4
Windows Server boosts efficiency, stability, and system performance, offering business value despite challenges in quantifying financial benefits and ROI.
We're very competitive commercially and technically because of it.
We've seen value in Windows Server because the systems work smoothly without any problems.
Windows Server offers excellent value for money, particularly when compared to alternatives.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Users often use online resources and third-party services for Windows 10 issues, with mixed satisfaction levels overall.
Sentiment score
6.3
Customers experience mixed support from Windows Server, with some praising promptness and others noting delays and varying service quality.
Our in-house team can also solve most issues.
If you go through a partner who sells or supports Windows, the support could be around seven out of ten, because Windows relies on these partners for assistance.
Microsoft's technical support for Windows Server has been lacking, with rare responses even with premium support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Windows 10 is highly scalable, supporting efficient growth and adaptation across varying company sizes, meeting diverse industry needs.
Sentiment score
8.2
Windows Server is praised for scalability and flexibility, efficiently supporting diverse environments despite some complex environment challenges.
I rate its scalability a ten out of ten.
It's definitely scalable.
The solution is used extensively in our organization, and we have plans to increase the usage.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Windows 10 is generally stable and reliable, though users experience infrequent issues; regular updates are essential for best performance.
Sentiment score
7.9
Windows Server is praised for stability and reliability improvements but faces challenges with updates, heavy load, and security concerns.
We have experienced no blue screens or crashes and often achieved an uptime of 2,000 to 3,000 days without any issues whatsoever.
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
The tool is stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Windows 10 updates need to focus on stability, user-friendliness, performance optimization, security, better integration, and streamlined licensing.
Windows Server needs enhanced security, lower pricing, better integration, simplified management, intuitive UI, and improved performance and technical support.
The solution should improve its stability.
From a security perspective, sometimes, malware attacks and hackers take advantage of the tool's vulnerabilities.
Deploying antivirus and firewall software on the server is advisable, but having an external firewall adds an extra layer of security.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Windows 10 licensing expensive, favor resellers for cost-effectiveness, and desire pricing improvements amid free alternatives.
Windows Server licensing is complex and costly, with varying pricing models that often require detailed assessment and clearer structures.
It is quite expensive.
Previously, a Windows Server with two processors cost around two 154 euros annually, but now it is estimated to be around 3,000 to 4,000 euros for the same configuration.
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most expensive, I rate it ten out of ten.
 

Valuable Features

Windows 10 is valued for its user-friendly interface, seamless integration, security, multitasking, and compatibility, making it a trusted choice.
Windows Server offers robust features, scalability, and security with easy integration, enhancing performance and supporting diverse enterprise needs.
Windows 11 brings some AI features for Microsoft Copilot, which probably weren't as integrated into the previous version.
Windows Server is a stable and scalable solution.
The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that every Microsoft product is scalable, flexible, secure, and available on a certain budget.
The IP directory is the most valuable feature.
 

Categories and Ranking

Windows 10
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
270
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows Server
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
184
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Windows 10 is 3.7%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server is 9.6%, up from 8.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Akos Szirmai - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy installation and the initial setup time is reasonable
Stability can be an issue. I have to restart it every two days. And the boot time is quite long. My laptop's old, has no SSD, and is just a traditional Winchester. Had desktops with Windows 11 and SSDs, much better performance. But hardware limitations on my current laptop lead to stability and response issues. It's more like the whole reinstall every two years thing. It makes cleaning a pain. Performance improves significantly after a fresh install, then slowly deteriorates as I add more programs. But my biggest concern with Windows 10 is actually bigger than my situation. I'm replacing my laptop anyway, but I read that Windows 10 support ends in a year or so. And with hardware limitations, many other computers won't run Windows 11. So it's not just me. A lot of people with decent, still-working Windows 10 machines will lose support and be unable to switch to 11. This will be a significant problem for individuals and institutions. Large companies with thousands of computers don't replace them every three years, and they might face issues with many computers unable to run Windows 11 and lacking support for 10.
Sagar SampadMall - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly, resources available online to troubleshoot any issue
It's easy to manage core applications and deploy engineers. Windows engineers are more affordable than Linux or Unix engineers, so that's another advantage. So, the management costs are much lower for the Windows Server. Plus, troubleshooting is straightforward with readily available online resources, so we don't need to raise tickets or wait for help. We can easily search on Google and find the solution on the search engine. Windows Server is pretty mature already. They're doing a good job with it.
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Answers from the Community

NC
Nov 21, 2021
Nov 21, 2021
Windows Server integrates well with all Microsoft and many other mainstream solutions. Building a Failover Cluster is comparatively much easier in Windows Server than with other solutions. We really like the ease of use, stability, and performance of this solution. You get a good active directory that offers consistently evolving features that scales easily. Windows Server supports more memory ...
See 2 answers
Shibu Babuchandran - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 22, 2021
Hi @Netanya Carmi ​, Key Differences Between a Windows Server and a Windows Desktop Here are the key differences between a Windows server and a Windows desktop. 1. Windows Server Supports More Memory One of the main differences between a Windows server and desktop is the amount of memory each can support. A desktop running Windows 10 Enterprise has a 4 GB memory limit on an X86 and a 2TB limit on an X64. These numbers are greatly increased depending on the Windows server version. You can view the memory limitations for the Windows and Windows server releases on the Microsoft Developer site. 2. Windows Server Uses CPUs More Efficiently In general, a server OS is more efficient at using its hardware than a desktop OS, especially a CPU; therefore, if you install Alike on a server OS, you are taking full advantage of the hardware installed on your server, which also allows Alike to offer optimal performance. 3. More Network Connections Allowed on a Windows Server With a desktop version of Windows, network connections are limited to 10-20. A Windows server is not locked down to just 20 network connections; therefore, a Windows server can support well beyond 20 network connections based on your hardware’s capability. 4. The Server OS is Configured for Background Tasks By default, server editions of the Windows OS are configured to give priority to background tasks and services, whereas the desktop editions focus on foreground. While priority can be changed, the desktop edition’s management does not yield the same performance results.
Nov 21, 2021
Windows Server integrates well with all Microsoft and many other mainstream solutions. Building a Failover Cluster is comparatively much easier in Windows Server than with other solutions. We really like the ease of use, stability, and performance of this solution. You get a good active directory that offers consistently evolving features that scales easily. Windows Server supports more memory and uses CPUs more efficiently. Windows Server requires a lot of monthly maintenance with vulnerability management. From a security aspect, this should be improved. We would like to see a command-line version of Windows Server. Overall this solution can be very expensive. One popular feature of Windows 10 is its connectivity with mobile devices and ability to make cabless connections with external devices. Windows 10 has improved functionality and better integration between the networks and Windows 10 core system. The new subsystem for Linux is great. Windows 10 also offers a very good gaming option. which many of our team members thoroughly enjoy. It is a very stable solution with flexible scalability. Windows 10 gets a lot of updates and the automatic updates have caused some problems with our team, resulting in losing files or work. There are instances where updates have caused system crashes and failures. The process needs to be tweaked a bit. The enterprise version has many options, like games that are really intended for home use. The install process can be a bit complex and takes a lot of time to deploy. Windows 10 is a very expensive solution. Conclusion: These are both great solutions by an industry leader. Windows Server is a very robust and powerful on-premises hardware. We were looking to really step up our connections and Windows 10 can only handle about 10 or 20 connections, whereas Windows Server can handle an excess of 50,000 connections. We also needed more memory and more power. Windows10 Pro offers 2TB of RAM, while Windows Server can go to 24TB. Windows Server hardware can also handle more cores and processors; it has 64 sockets to Windows 10’s 2 sockets. Windows Server is the best solution for our organizational needs.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Windows 10?
Windows versions before 2016 had a lot of stability problems. When cybersecurity teams tested these devices or operating systems, we found many vulnerabilities to exploit. That's why if I could mak...
What is your primary use case for Windows 10?
We use the solution as an operating system.
What needs improvement with Windows Server?
Sometimes the performance goes down, which might be due to the stability zone or network issues. It can also depend on our network.
What is your primary use case for Windows Server?
We are using Windows Server to connect our client software. We use it to access client systems and work on SQL databases.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Rakuten, Rackspace, Tyco
Find out what your peers are saying about Windows 10 vs. Windows Server and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.